A No-Electricity Lathe, a Clever Tool for Fixing Hole Screw-Ups and No-Welding Metalworking in This Week's Maker's Roundup

You'll also see The Wood Whisperer working that fee-yancy $2,600 Multirouter

Tool Tote With Hand-Cut Dovetails

Looks like Jimmy DiResta's not the only one who needed a new toolbox (see latest episode of DiResta's Cut). Here Jay Bates knocks up an oak tool tote featuring hand-cut dovetails and interior organizers, and his attention to detail in both craftsmanship and design is on full display:

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King-Size Bed With Multirouter-Made Joinery

Marc Spagnuolo is back after a long absence--cut the guy some slack, he and Mrs. Wood Whisperer just had a second child--and here he shows you his latest project: A king-size bed, produced at the behest of the missus. As a bonus, we get to see Spagnuolo using a tool few of us can afford, a fee-yancy $2,600 Multirouter:

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No Electricity: Campaign Stool Produced Using Human-Powered Lathe

Like Matthias Wandel up above, Shannon Rogers is also using a lathe this week--but of a very different variety: Rogers built his own human-powered spring-pole lathe. Here he uses the foot-powered device to create this handsome campaign stool:

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Yes Electricity: Guitar Made From a Shovel

I'm guessing most of you won't have need for a one-string guitar made from a distressed shovel, but watching Bob Clagett make one is still edifying: There's plenty of tool improv here, as well as the all-important mid-project screw-up and how Clagett smoothly recovers from it. Learning how to improvise solutions to setbacks is a super-important skill, not just in making things, but in life, no?

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Tool Tip: The Clever "Oops" Pilot Arbor

If you've ever cut a hole using a Forstner bit/spade bit/hole saw, then discovered upon installation that the hole was too small, you're in for a headache; the only way I know to fix it is to rout a wider hole on one surface using a bearing-guided rabbeting bit, then flip the workpiece over and hit it with a flush trim bit. But here Ron Paulk shows a very clever little attachment that lets you fix the problem without needing to turn to the router:

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Bathroom Cabinet Re-Vamp

April Wilkerson puts the finishing touch on her bathroom remodel. This time she rips out the tired vanity doors, drawers and faux drawer faces, replacing them with self-built Shaker-style versions. She also gains a little extra storage space by turning the faux drawer faces into tip-out units:

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Turning Canine Shame Into a Lamp

La Fabrique DIY is also back, this time with a project inspired by an ailing dog. "My sister's dog was sick, we made her a wooden lamp for fun." Here the Cone of Shame is turned into a source of illumination:

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Intricate Jewelry Box in the Works

Jesse de Geest looks far too young to be a master craftsman, but don't let the fresh face (or his self-effacing comments) fool you. Look at the absurdly detailed hand-carved jewelry box he's working on as a gift for Mrs. Samurai Carpenter. He also shows you some gi-normous slabs he's drying out for future projects:

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Turning a Wooden Sphere

Now that Matthias Wandel has finished his DIY lathe, it's time to test it out on a project: Turning a wooden sphere on it.

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Design & Engineering Improvements to the DIY Lathe

Wandel previously stated that he had no interest in building a DIY lathe, and only did it following a viewer's request. But here you see that he cannot help himself; now that he's built it, he seeks to improve upon its design. It's always fun to see and hear Wandel prototyping out loud, and he also shows us how he rules out some of his initial solutions.

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Breakfast Bar Drawers With Integrated Handles

With last week's mistakes behind him, Frank Howarth now turns to creating and installing the drawers for his kitchen remodel. Check out his solution for creating beautiful, flowing and integrated handle pulls out of wood:

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Live-Edge Coffee Table With Bent Metal Legs

Darbin Orvar's Linn works a live-edge slab into a coffee table with steel metal legs. She uses jig in her vise to bend the metal by hand, showing you a welding-free way to incorporate steel into wooden furniture:

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Desktop Organizer

We get two from Linn this week: In the second, she designs and creates an organization unit for her desktop, something that she wants to resemble a small piece of furniture. In this one we get to see her design process:

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1 Comment

No need for a router to rectify the problem: cut the larger, correct size hole in a scrap piece to use as a guide for that same hole saw. Position the scrap guide over the old hole location and fasten using clamps, screws, hot glue, double sided tape, or perhaps the most useful tool in the world - a 23 gauge pinner. The guide will align the larger hole saw correctly without the need for a pilot to locate it.

Since it's a one-sided operation, the pilot can't be used to start the hole from both sides of the panel to prevent tear out. If necessary, similarly attach a scrap to the other side as a backer.

Jigsaws, rasps, and carving knives all work too, depending upon the task at hand.

Also, how to deal with large-scale mid-project screwups

Proof that you don't need a shop full of fancy tools in order to make things: This week we get a rare look at one of Jimmy DiResta's onsite builds, where travels to a tradeshow in Arizona with only a bag of hand tools.

One-stop viewing for the latest and greatest YouTube maker projects

Three Years' Worth of Crazy Woodworking Inventions Just…wow. Here Izzy Swan shows you why he's Izzy Swan, presenting a supercut of some of his crazier projects. If you don't see at least three things here that blow your mind, particularly in the tool-hacking department, then we can't help you: Combining a

Router tips 'n tricks; DIY leather hinges; a method for prototyping furniture; the argument for a fine self-made workbench and more

Arcade Cabinet Build, Part 2Bob Clagett continues to amaze with Part 2 of his epic arcade cabinet build. This video, which is every bit as dense as Part 1, contains clear explanations and some great examples of both careful forethought and improvisation to overcome something not fitting right.

Transforming FurnitureThe always inventive Izzy Swan came up with this three-in-one piece of furniture, a bench that folds into two different types of tables: Arcade Machine CabinetMonster build! Bob Clagett tackles a full-sized arcade machine cabinet from scratch. The video moves at breakneck speed, but watch closely and you'll see